The Right Way to Handle Things
by Ryku
Summary: I wish I could take back what I told him...just the fact that he now has a boyfriend should have kept my mouth shut. I know now that I can't have him. [Chapter 5 is now up!]I fixed the chapters everything should make sense. Sorry about that!
1. The Cat's Out of the Bag

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, or anything associated with Digimon. The only thing I do own is Takahiro.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this. Please leave some comments on whether or not I should continue with this. It will probably be long if I decide to continue on with it. Thanks again.

The Right Way to Handle Things  
By Ryku

"If I ever said that I hated myself, I was lying, that wasn't hate. This is. I can't believe what just happened, I don't understand how I could be so stupid. Why do I have to feel this way, why can't I close everything off and not care?" A very disgruntle Taichi, or Tai, sat on the couch with his fist clinched into his insanely messy dark brown hair. He had his head lowered toward the ground while murmuring something incoherent to himself while Kari, his younger sister, sat more confused than she had ever been in her entire life.

"Uh...Tai? Can you please calm down and explain what exactly happened. It's hard to make you feel better if you don't tell me why you hate yourself so much." Something was seriously up and Tai didn't seem to be in the right state of mind to talk about it. There was one thing for sure though, it involved a blond that went by the name of Yamato, also known as, Matt.

"I just don't understand...he was right there, RIGHT THERE! Why do things have to go wrong all the time?" His sigh was the embodiment of sadness and it broke Kari's heart in two; she hated seeing her brother like this. She couldn't handle the fact that something was wrong and she had no way of fixing it because she couldn't get her emotional brother to confess anything. There was one thing she could do though, and that was talk to the man who caused all of this. Kari's brown eyes took in the sight of her brother's sad figure for a few moments and then she got up and walked toward her room, while grabbing the cordless phone. With one last glance at Tai she walked into her room and closed the door. Her fingers dialed the number quickly and then she heard a few rings. "He better answer his pho-"

"Hello?" Matt asked while another male in the background was laughing and saying something to Matt.

"Um...Matt?" Kari was confused, the only male that was normally at Matt's was TK and his father, that voice didn't belong to either of them.

"Yes?"

"What's wrong with my brother, Matt?"

"Why? What do you mean?"

"Who is that guy?"

"What guy?"

"Why are you answering like that?"

"Like what?"

"Matt!"

"What? I haven't understood a single thing you've asked me since this conversation started."

"Okay, let me start over. What is wrong with Tai? He came in a few minutes ago and was really upset, I figured you would know what was wrong with him."

"I don't have a clue, I didn't know anything was wrong with him. He acted a little funny when he left about thirty minutes ago, but I just figured that was because it's Tai."

"That's weird...who is that guy at your house?"

"It's my boyfriend, Takahiro, actually just Hiro." Matt said causally as if it was an every day occurrence.

"Your...boyfriend?" Kari tried to contain her astonishment at this news, but it was too incredible. She always figured he was at least bisexual, but it was shocking to see how calm he was about the whole thing. "What...when did it start?"

"Last week, but it took me a while to actually tell people. I felt horrible about not telling people so I told Tai today." Matt continued talking but Kari's mind was busy working out the puzzle.

"Wait a second, when you told Tai, how did he react?" She was starting to figure it out. The whole thing made perfect sense now. She always figured Tai had a huge crush on Matt. That's also one of the reason she felt he didn't have a girlfriend, even though half the girls in school were in love with him.

"He stared at me with a shocked expression, which I was expecting, and then he said congrats and then said he had to go home to do homework. That's why I said he was acting weird. He never stops doing anything so he can do homework. Tai hates homework." Matt chuckled a little bit and then he turned serious all of a sudden. "Hold on, why are you asking all of these questions? Is something wrong with Tai?"

"He was just acting stranger than normal and I figured you would know why, but I can handle Tai from here, I think he's just being weird like normal. Sorry for bothering you, thanks Matt." Kari spoke quickly and then hung the phone up as she walked into the living room where Tai still sat. "Tai...do you feel like talking about Ma-"

"Honestly, Kari, I don't want to talk about it. I don't think you would understand." Tai spoke without looking at her.

"Are you sure? Because I think I can understand what's going on. I believe this has to do with Matt and his boyfriend, doesn't it?" Kari smirked because she knew she had hit the nail on the head, by the way Tai looked at her with his eyes bulging.

"There's nothing to talk about. He's going with Takahiro and he's happy. If he's happy then...wait, how did you know?" Tai suddenly stopped talking and glared at her. "Kari! How do you know anything about Matt and why do you think that's why I'm upset?!"

"I called Matt so I could figure out what was wrong since you wouldn't even hardly speak to me." She stopped speaking for a few seconds to see Tai glaring daggers toward her. "So when I called him I heard Hiro in the background and I asked who he was and Matt told me about how they were dating." Kari suddenly looked at Tai funny. "Why do you call him Takahiro?"

"Because...I just want to call him Takahiro." Tai stared at her stubbornly.

"Tai, why are you lying to me? You know you can tell me anything, right?" Kari smiled at Tai as she sat down beside him on the couch. "I promise you. I'm always here for you especially when you need to talk about something that's hurting you." She took his hand in hers and smiled at him again.

"Okay...thank you, Kari. I know you're always going to be there for me. It's just there are some things that I'm sure you don't want to know about your brother because it can cause a lot of conflict. It will completely change the way you think of me. I couldn't stand it if you started hating me. Even though you say you'll always be there, I have small doubts, because this is a huge secret that has been buried deep inside of me for a long time now." Tai took a deep breath, not completely ready to spill his guts to his younger sister, when all of a sudden he was interrupted.

"Can I take a guess at what it could be, Tai?" Kari smiled at him again trying hard to contain her laughter, she couldn't help if she knew her brother that well. He should know that something like that would never change her views of him. She decided to take pity on him though and just confess that she already knew he liked boys and that he was a little jealous that Matt is with a guy so easily. It's obvious.

"A...a guess? Um..sure I suppose. You'll never guess what it-"

"You're gay, right?" Kari couldn't help but giggle a little at her brothers stupefied expression.

"Ho-how did you know that Kari?!" Tai couldn't help but let his mouth hang open.

"I can just tell, I know my older brother very well. I also know why you're upset with Matt." Kari continued to smile as Tai looked horrified.

"You do? How? Did he say something?"

"No, I just put the pieces together. Why would Matt have said something anyway?"

"Because I told him...that I was in love with him." Tai said at the same exact time Kari said.

"Because you told him you were jealous because he has a boyfriend..." They both stared at each other for a few minutes. "You're in love with Matt!?" So many questions ran through her mind, so many images, and just how wrong she had been this entire time.

To be continued...

Ryku


	2. Water is a Man's Best Friend

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or anything associated with it. All I own is Takahiro.

WARNING: This will contain some boy/boy action.

Kari sat holding a hot cup of hot chocolate while explaining to TK what Tai had suddenly confessed to her surprise. She blew softly on the steaming cup while waiting for TK to digest everything she had told him. As she looked over at him she saw that he had his serious thinking face on, so she looked around the cafe to see it they were almost the only ones there except a muscular guy sitting in a far corner with shoulder length black hair; since she saw nothing of interest she looked at her hot chocolate. The small multi-colored marshmallows looked very yummy, and as soon as she went to eat one TK spoke up.

"It's not really all that surprising if you think about it. I mean, they've been best friends since they were around ten, it's usually everyone's dream to fall in love with their best friend." TK blushed a little as she spoke; luckily she was still looking at her cup.

"Yeah, but what about Matt? Does he even like Tai? He has a boyfriend after all, and he seems happy." Kari looked back at TK with a worried expression. "What if he doesn't even like Tai like that? It would crush him, I think he's almost given up hope of ever being with him." She knew they belonged together, it would be a perfect relationship. Matt would treat Tai better than anyone and she knew that Tai would love Matt with all his heart.

"I think I can somehow find out if Matt likes Tai without either of them finding out; it'll just take some time to think it through. Will you help me Kai?" TK wrapped his jacket and scarf around tightly around himself as they walked outside into what seemed to be a blizzard.

"Of course I'm going to help! Nothing would be better than getting Tai and Matt together, I just know it's what they want." Kari smiled on the outside, but inside she had a few doubts...

XxXx XxXx

"Tai, come here a moment!" His mother's voice was barely audible over the loud music coming from his CD player. "Did you hear me, Tai?" Her voice had gotten louder and pulled Tai out of his music haven.

"Yes, Mom! I'll be right there!" Tai got out of his bed and turn off his CD player. The silence was more deafening than the music had been. Recently Tai had been unable to stay anywhere that didn't have at least some noise at all times. He walked out of his room to see his mom making cookies, one of his many favorite foods. "Why are you making cookies? Normally you only make cookies when you have something important to say, it's a holiday, or some thing's wrong. And since the next holiday isn't for a few week's; I'm hoping nothing's wrong."

"I need to talk to you about something." She got the cookies out of the oven and sat them down on the table in front of Tai. He got a cookie and started chewing on it while staring at his mother waiting for her to tell him what she needed to say.

"What is it?" He asked between chews.

"I've noticed recently that you've seemed very depressed and I want to know why. It's not like you to be upset for this long; you're normally a very happy and energetic person." His mother took his hand and smiled gently at him. "I'm your mother, Tai, you know you can tell me. If it's about girls I can tell you almost everything about them."

"It's not about girls." Tai ate another cookie and laughed cynically to himself. It was so strange that he could tell his mother honestly that his problems in love had nothing to do with girls.

"Okay then, what is it about? I want to see the old Tai come back." His mom explained as she went to get a glass of milk.

"It's hard to explain; I don't know..." Tai trailed off as his mother sat the glass down in front of Tai.

"Sure you can, whatever it is, it can't be all that bad."

"I wish I knew that it wasn't bad, but it is."

"Nothing's as bad as it seems sweetie, trust me. Just tell me, it'll be out in the open, we can talk about it, and you'll feel better because it'll be off your chest." She sat patiently while Tai debated with himself on whether he should tell her about his secret or not. When he told Kari, well...when she guessed it, he was so afraid. She took it well though. Maybe she wouldn't take it badly; it wasn't like he was telling her he was gay, he was just..in love...with his best friend, who happened to be...a guy. This could be harder than he thought.

"Mom..." His voice caught in his throat right as his secret was about to be revealed. "I'm in love with someone who has a boyfriend." It wasn't the entire truth, but it wasn't a lie either.

"Oh...are you sure you're in love, dear?" His mother squeezed his hand tightly; the warmness it emitted gave Tai more courage.

"I'm completely sure mom. Every time I'm around them I feel so wonderful inside, like nothing bad could ever happen." He smiled more right now than he had for a week since he found out about Matt's relationship.

"You shouldn't let something like this bother you so much. You're a very handsome eighteen-year-old boy who could have anyone he wanted."

"I don't want anyone else, though. I can't help but feel this way. I love him so much." His mind was so full of images of Matt that he didn't realize his slip-up.

"Um...Tai?" Who is it you're in love with, exactly?"

"The most amazing blond in the entire world, Matt." The images suddenly popped and it dawned on him what he just let out. His dark brown eyes widen and he felt his entire world start to crumble beneath him as he watch his mother; waiting for some sort of expression to show a sign of what she was feeling.

"Matt...Ishida? Your best friend?" His mom spoke slowly seeming to not understand exactly what it was she heard. "Your...guy...best friend?"

"...yes." His mind was crammed full with different, horrifying thought that his mom could possibly do to him.

"So you're gay?"

"I'm not sure, all I know is that I love Matt with all my heart." He looked at his mother still awaiting some sort of...anything, she was showing no sign of any emotion at all. He almost wished she would get mad; just so he would know what was going on.

"He has a boyfriend?" Still no emotion.

"Yeah, a guy names Takahiro...why?"

"Because we need to figure out what that boy has that you don't. If my boy wants something he'll get it. I'm sure that Matt will come around and feel the same exact way you do." She smiled at him with the same smile she had always given him, it was obvious that nothing had or would change between them.

"Thank you mom!" He hugged her tightly and closed his eyes while smiling. He knew he had the best mom in the world, and he also had new confidence. Matt would soon be his. Takahiro just needed to get out of the picture.

XxXx XxXx

"Are you ready to get this plan in motion?" Kari asked excitedly after they finally came up with what they thought was a faultless plan.

"Let's do this!" He smiled seeing Kari so excited about getting their brothers together. She was so beautiful when she got like this.

"I hope this works, I would love to see those two together." Kari smiled as they both started walking toward Matt's apartment. "What do you think about Hiro?"

"I've only met him once, but he seemed to be a nice guy. Honestly, Matt seems to be very happy with him." TK looked over at Kari and felt horrible for saying that, but he couldn't help it though, she needed to know what she was up against.

"He does? Well, that's probably just because it's a new relationship. People are almost always happy at the beginning of it." Kari explained, whether it was to reassure herself or TK was debatable.

"You're probably right. You'll know more about Hiro when you meet him." TK said right as they approached the elevator that would take them to the third floor where Matt's apartment was.

"Alright, here we go." Kari and TK walked out of the elevator and started walking until they reached his apartment. TK then opened the door and they both peered inside to see the apartment in complete darkness. "I don't think Matt's here." He whispered, "we can wait here if you want or come back la-"

"TK!" Kari whispered loudly, "did you heard that?!"He looked at her funny and ten listened hard.

"I don't hear an-" Before he could finish his though a voice, barely audible, was heard coming from Matt's bedroom. They walked toward his room slowly to try and figure out who it was, the voice was hard to recognize.

"Is that Matt?" Kari moved closer to TK and listened closer to the voice inside. It didn't sounds like Matt' s voice.

"No...it's Hiro." TK back away from Matt's room. "Let's just come back later, I doubt we'll get anything done right now."

"You heard it too, didn't you!?" Kari's voice was filled with defeat, a little anger, and some sadness.

"Yeah...I guess they're more serious about each other than we thought..."

XxXx XxXx

"Tai! Get up!" His mothers voice did nothing for Tai's current condition, he was in no mood to get up and face the world when he knew there was no chance to get Matt. "Tai! Don't make me come in there with ice-cold water, you know I will!"

"I'm..." Yawn. "..up!" He got out of bed slowly and stretched while yawning again. "I don't want to go to school...I have every class except for one with Matt. It'll be torture." He sighed and went to the bathroom; after the water was perfect he stripped off and got into the streaming hot water; as the water roamed over his body into ever curve and muscle he had it seemed like it was easing away his sadness he had. Tai grabbed a bottle and squirted out a large amount of blue shampoo and rubbed it generously into his hair after he got his hair wet enough so it would droop some; after washing the shampoo out of his hair he washed his body off and got out of the shower. "Great...I took too long and now I only have ten minutes left to get ready and get to school..."

"Hurry up, Tai!" His mother yelled right before the aroma of breakfast came flooding into his nose.

"Yum!" Tai grabbed a towel and put it around his waist and walked into his room, where he got a shocking surprise. On his bed sat Matt, his ear-length blond hair looking silkier than ever, his creamy skin glistened in the morning light, and he was wearing dark blue jeans with a black button-up shirt that showed off some of his smooth beautiful chest. "What are you doing here, Matt?!" He was barely able to get any words out he was confused and amazed at the same time.

"I was thinking about what you said about how you were in love with me...and I wanted for you to know something." Matt stood up and started walking slowly toward Tai.

"What's that?" He asked while making sure he kept a tight grip on his towel. His dripping wet hair fell around his shoulders in a messy veil.

"I broke up with Hiro; I decided something very important. I realized whenever I was around him," Matt was almost close enough to touch Tais' wet skin. "I realized that I didn't love him; I liked him and he was very cute, but he was no you. You're who I want Tai, I know that now. I hope I'm not to late to make you mine." He ran his long fingers down Tai's tan muscular arms slowly. "I love you Tai. Even though it took me a while to figure it would, I hope you'll forgive me."

"You never needed to ask for forgiveness!" Tai wrapped one of his arms around Matt tightly and closed his eyes to keep the tears away. "I've longed to hear you say those words. I love you Matt, I always have."

"I love you too. I'm glad I finally came to my senses." Matt's fingers moved slowly to Tai's shoulders.

"Tai! Get up!" His mother's voice seemed to bring them back to reality because they jumped away from each other and looked to the side while blushes covered their faces.

"Uh...I should probably get dressed for school." Tai started to move away and go to his closet when Matt stopped him and kissed his lips passionately. The kiss sent sparks running through every part of each of their bodies. Tai ran his tongue slowly across Matt's lips begging for entrance to a place not even his mind could wonder to. He opened his mouth slowly and their tongues danced with each other as Tai started removing Matt's shirt; they stopped kissing for only enough time to get the annoying article of clothing off and then their tongues joined together again. Matt moved Tais' hand away from the towel, letting it drop to the ground slowly. Tai blushed hotly, but began unzipping Matt's pants while kissing down his chest, slowly letting his tongue lick various parts of his skin. Matt moaned softly as his pants were removed.

"I don't think we're going to school today." Matt chuckled a little before his mouth was yet again invaded with Tais' eager tongue.

For hours and hours after that, Tai and Matt made sure they both knew how much the other meant.

To be continued...

Ryku

Please don't forget to review. I want to know if you like this story!


	3. All I can say is Gorgeous

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or anything associated with it. All I own is Takahiro.

Tai woke up with the largest smile on his face he had ever had in his entire life. He couldn't believe that Matt was finally his; after all the heartache and pain he went through he finally got what he always wanted.

"Tai, Kari! Get ready for school!" His mother's voice wasn't needed this morning; Tai was already getting dressed after a taking a quick shower. For the first time in his entire school career; he actually **wanted **to go to school. He would not long have to put up with other people being with the beautiful blond, Matt was his and he wouldn't let anything come between them. "Tai? Why are you already dressed? Normally it would take you fifteen more minutes to just get out of bed. Kari will be out of a job this morning on waking you." She sat a plate of blueberry waffles down on the table.

"I'm just excited about school!" He smiled and grabbed four waffles and stuffed them all into his mouth while he poured a glass of orange juice. After he drank that he grabbed his backpack and put his shoes on. "See ya, mom! Love ya!" Was the last thing his mother heard before the door slammed quickly after him.

"Love you...too baby..." She said to the empty room, still very confused by her sons' actions.

On the way to school Tai hummed a tune and smiled so much his cheeks started hurting, but he kept telling himself that nothing was going to ruin the perfect day he was about to have. After all, he figured he deserved it since he had waited patiently for Matt for almost two years.

"Hey Tai! Wait up!" Kari yelled running up behind him. "Since when do you beat me getting dressed? I went to wake you up and mom said you were already gone!" She looked at him funny for a few seconds, "why are you smiling so much? It's school you know; normally you aren't happy until lunch or you see Matt."

"That's why I **am** so happy! I'm going to get to see Matt, my beautiful boyfriend." Tai continued to ramble about how perfect Matt was, but Kari didn't hear him; she was yet again confused by Tai.

"What do you mean? Since when is Matt your boyfriend, I thought he was with Hiro." She was getting annoyed by the fact she was getting more confused than Tai.

"Matt came over, told me he broke up with Taka-whatever, and confessed his love to me." Before Tai could swoon to much more Kari began talking.

"When did they break up and when did he come over? Not that I'm not excited by this news, but isn't it kinda sudden?"

"He told me that he realized he didn't love Takahiro, because he wasn't me so he broke up with him."

"I'm happy for you, Tai. I really am, I just hope you don't get hurt..." Kari's mind went back to what TK and she had heard at Matt's apartment.

**Flashback Kari's P.o.V**

"Alright, here we go." We walked out of the elevator and started walking until we reached his room and then TK opened the door so we both peered inside to see the apartment in complete darkness. "I don't think Matt's here." He whispered, "we can wait here if you want or come back la-"

"TK!" I whispered loudly, "did you heard that?!"He looked at me funny then seemed to stop and listen hard.

"I don't hear an-" Before he could finish his though a voice, barely audible, was heard coming from Matt's bedroom. We walked toward his room slowly to try and figure out who it was, the voice was hard to recognize.

"I know we haven't been together very long, but I love you." The person in Matt's room seemed to not be the only one there.

"Is that Matt?" I moved closer to TK and listened closer to the voice inside. It didn't sounds like Matt' s voice.

"No...it's Hiro." TK started to back away from Matt's room.

"...my entire body and soul cannot survive without you there to help it along..." Hiro's voice was getting harder to understand.

"Let's just come back later, I doubt we'll get anything done right now." TK grabbed my hand and tried to pull me away but not before I heard Matt's voice.

"...I love you too..." I had heard enough and walked outside with TK.

"You heard it too, didn't you!?" I knew my was filled with defeat, a little anger, and some sadness.

"Yeah...I guess they're more serious about each other than we thought..."

**End Flashback**

"Hurt? Why would Matt ever hurt me? He loves me." Tai spoke with such confidence that Kari decided not to say anything in case she had heard wrong. The last thing she wanted to do was take something away from Tai that he wanted so much.

"I'm probably just being overly protective." Kari smiled and then looked around her to see TK waiting for her beside the school entrance. "I see TK so I'll see you after school, okay Tai?"

"Sure, see ya, Sis." Tai waved while smiling and then walked into the Odaiba High School with ten minutes until the first bell. Since Matt usually got to school with around five minutes to spare Tai had sometime to go to his locker and get his math book before his wonderful blond arrived to give him a huge kiss that he always longed to have to show his love toward Matt. Time seemed to stand still though, his normally difficult locker opened easily which meant it only took about two minutes to get his book, put his stuff in his locker and leave.

"Only three more minutes until Matt arrives!" Tai attracted a large amount of attention by the way he was almost dancing around trying to contain his excitement. Suddenly, Tai saw Hiro walk by smiling and laughing as if he hadn't recently got dumped by Matt. A few seconds later his big brown eyes gazed upon the most gorgeous site he could have ever possibly imagined. Matt was smiling, his blond hair bouncing a little as he chuckled a little at something, icy blue eyes seemed to glow as they fell upon the happy brunette, his dark blue jeans fit perfectly to his legs showing ever curve, while his long sleeved blue shirt teased everyone by barely being tight enough to show a little of his figure. The one major thought running through his mind was that his boyfriend just arrived.

"Hey Matt!" Tai called happily as Matt walked up to him.

"Hey Tai, how's it goin'?" Matt's voice was like heaven to Tai's ears.

"Just been waiting for you to get here, I got here ten minutes early." Tai was getting a little impatient about that kiss he so desperately wanted.

"Wow, I can't believe you got here early. It's a miracle!" Matt chuckled a little as Tai fake pouted.

"I love yo-" Tai began but suddenly stopped when Hiro walked up and kissed Matt. He took the kiss that Tai would have died for, which just could happened since his boyfriend was being kissed. He began to think of multiple ways to kill the horrible jerk that stood before him kissing Matt, but before he could react something made his heart break in half. Instead of pushing Hiro away like any good boyfriend would do, he...he...

"I love you, Matt." Hiro smiled after the kissed.

"I love you, too. " Matt blushed a little not used to began so open about his relationship. "Ma-Matt.. could I talk to you alone for a second?" Tai tried as hard as he could but the tears were beginning to fill up behind his eyes.

"Sure, I'll meet you in class, Hiro." Matt told him right before he was dragged away by Tai who was still trying to control his tears. They stopped in a hall that was hardly ever used except by couples who wanted to make-out right before class. "Is something wrong? You're acting strange."

"Me?! How can you stand there and ask when you know you just broke my heart?! You told me you broke up with him! You told me you loved me! What happened?! I was looking forward to finally being about to kiss you. To be able to say you're mine, be able to hug you, and love you with all my heart and know it was returned!" By now Tai was sobbing while staring into the eyes of Matt. Eyes that he could not decipher. "Why Matt...? Why would you lie to me? Even if you don't love you could at least tell me...not lie to me to get my hopes up!"

"Tai I-"

"No! I don't want to hear you're lies, you've betrayed my trust! Just go and be with the guy you love and leave me alone! I'm tired of being hurt inside because of you!"

"Tai! I-" Matt tired but couldn't continue because Tai was already gone...

"Why am I so stupid?!" Tai yelled and punched the bathroom stall door. He had decided that since he didn't want to see Matt he would hide out in the bathroom. The bell had already rang and he was beginning to wonder more and more about the reasons Matt would do such a thing. Did he not care at all for his feelings? Was his best friend, actually ex-best friend, now trying to destroy him by making him feel loved and then rip his heart out? Maybe Matt was changing...maybe it's because Matt found out that Tai was in love with him.

"Tai? Are you in here?" A voice that could belong to none other than Izzy asked while looking for any signs of Tai.

"Go away Izzy," Tai hated that he sounded so upset and angry toward Izzy since none of this was his fault.

"Sorry, I can't do that." Izzy walked up to the door that hid Tai.

"I don't care that you want to be a good friend...I want to just stay here and figure out what went wrong in my past life that I deserve such suffering from someone who can make me so happy one minute and then tear me apart." Tai could feel the cursed tears welling up again inside of him.

"Tai...Matt told me that you were upset. He didn't tell me what happened though. So I would be of more help if you could come out and explain what happened." Izzy leaned against the wall and waited for Tai to come out. Just as Izzy had figured a few moments later Tai walked out of the stall with red puffy eyes.

"I'm just like a girl...I can't believe I'm this upset over a guy..." Tai lowered his head and sighed. "Why can't I just find someone who I love and loves me back, why does that seem to be so hard?"

"I can't answer that Tai. I'm not good with relationship questions, but what I do know is that someone will fall in love with you. You're the star soccer player, funny, everyone loves to be around you, and you're hot. Not hitting on you or anything, Joe wouldn't enjoy that very much." Izzy blushed a little which made Tai chuckle a little.

"Thanks Iz, you're right. I can find someone who cares for me! I don't need that heart breaking jerk!"  
"Hey Tai?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell me exactly what happened now?" Izzy asked and Tai rubbed the back of his head while smiling.

"Yesterday Matt came into my room while I was getting ready for school and then he told me that he broke up with that thing of his and then he confessed his love to me. Then I came to school this morning **early**! All because of him, to find out that he's going to act like none of it ever happened." Tai explained quickly so the heartache wouldn't be able to come around.

"So...I take it you're in love with Matt?"

"Yeah..." Tai had completely forgotten he hadn't told Izzy about his sexuality.

"I think everyone in our group is pretty much, don't worry about it Tai. I know that you are going to find someone. I do have another question though."

"Yeah?"  
"Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"

"Yeah...it was too life-like to be a dream, trust me, everything was **way** to real." Tai smiled remembering those precious moments he had with Matt. "I want him back Izzy...I love him too much."

"You know what you should do Tai, get a girls advice. I know Sora and Mimi would love to help. They're better at this than I am."

"Maybe you're right...I'll talk to them after school then."

"I can hang out with you until school is over if you want, I take all my classes on my computer anyway. It's not like I need to be in an actual classroom to get anything done."

"Thank you Izzy, this really means a lot."

"No problem." Izzy smiled and then started typing quickly on his computer. "Just give me a few minutes to get this one project done and I won't even need to be on it anymore."

"Alright." Tai said and waited...and waited...and waited. He waited so long for Izzy to stop typing on his computer that the last bell releasing students had rang. "Um...thanks for staying with me Izzy, but I'm going to go home now."

"Uh-huh...no problem." He mindlessly answered without slowing his typing. Tai chuckled a little and smiled while walking out of the bathroom. His next mission was to find Sora and Mimi and he knew exactly where they would be going after school. The mall.

After walking about fifteen minutes to the mall and then roaming around trying to find the two love-birds, he finally found them in the last store he ever expected. The book store. It wasn't because they were stupid, because they both are very intelligent. It was because neither had time to read. Sora had to run her mother's flower shop while Mimi was always shopping and finding out new trends.

"Where have you been Tai?" Sora asked as they walked out of the book store toward the food plaza.

"I didn't want to see Matt so I hid in the bathroom by myself until Iz walked in and stayed with me...even though he typed the whole time. Almost drove me insane." Tai lead the others to get food and then they all sat down to begin the discussion.

"Izzy told us about what happened between you and Matt...he called a few minutes before you showed up. He didn't say why you wanted to talk to us though." Sora explained while eating her hamburger.

"Yeah, Tai? Why do you want to talk to us? What can we do to help?" Mimi asked as she stole one of Sora's french fries.

"Because I want to know how to stop hurting because of Matt, I want to know what I can do to get him off my mind since he doesn't care about me." Tai told them between chews.

"Hmmm...well you could always try and make him jealous." Mimi suggested while eating more french fries.

"Make him jealous? Would that work? Even if I decided to do it who could I make him jealous with?" Tai asked already throwing that idea down the drain.

"We know he likes you Tai! I just bet it would work, and I know a guy that would be perfect for you! He cute, sweet, has dark colored straight hair, and he's a good friend of mine." Sora announced happily already figuring out a way to set them up.

"Let me meet him first...then I'll decide." Tai wasn't even trying to hide his concern about this whole idea.

"I'll see if he can meet to tomorrow after school, he's not that far from here." Sora smiled. She loved helping people find love.

"Then why doesn't he go to our school? How old is he?" Tai was afraid that whoever she was setting him up with would be someone he would never like. She had known him his whole life though, so she should be able to find a guy suitable.

"He goes to a boarding school and he's 19. Only a year older than you so don't think age will get you out of this." Sora smirked as Tai glared a little at her.

"Fine. I'll meet him tomorrow." Tai sighed and finished his food. "I'm going home, I guess I'll...wait, what's his name?"

"His name is Ryo. Don't worry, you'll know who he is." Sora giggled a little and then started talking to Mimi about something.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Tai shook his head and walked home ready for tomorrow when he would meet Ryo. The guy who was going to help him get over Matt or make him jealous.

XxXx XxXx

The next day at school went by so slowly and yet quickly at the same time. He wanted to school to be over but he was nervous about meeting Ryo. What would he be like? Would he be cute? How could he ever be good enough to come close to Matt? Will this even work? All those questions kept running through his head the entire day. It was so bad that hardly anyone could even talk to him. Not that it mattered to Matt because he didn't talk to Tai and Tai didn't talk to him.

Finally the bell rang meaning school was over. Excitement, fear, and many other emotions were running through his body at the same time making him feel a little worse about the whole situation. He was going to have faith in Sora though and have some confidence in this whole plan. With that he left school and began walking toward the exit when Sora and Mimi ran on both sides of him.

"Ready Tai?" Mimi asked while hooking her arm through his.

"I suppose..." Tai was trying hard to cover his fear, but this was worse than playing soccer against the best team in the entire world.

"Don't worry Tai, you'll love him. Trust me." Sora smiled reassuringly and hooked her arm through his as well. They all three began walking out of school while a certain blond watched them with a curious stare.

"Are you going with me?" Tai asked half hoping they would and half hoping they wouldn't.

"Sort of," Mimi began while smiling at Sora and then Tai. "Sora and I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Since we haven't been on a date in a while we're going to the movies with you and Ryo, except we're going to watch a different movie so you two and get acquainted."  
"Al-alright." Tai stammered and wanted to kick himself. Why was this boy already making him act like this?

"Calm down and breath Tai, we're almost there." Sora scolded playfully. "There's no reason to be so nervous. It's just a boy who is excited to see you."

"He is?!" Again Tai wanted to kick himself, but he couldn't help it. He finally allowed himself to be swept up in the thought that this lone boy could help him.

"There he is." Mimi smiled and began waving. Standing there waving back was one of the hottest guys Tai had ever seen. He had long black hair that fell just beyond his ears, creamy skin, dark green gorgeous eyes, lips that seemed too perfect for such an undeserving planet, and muscles that could be seen through his uniform.

"Th-that's him?" Tai was even more nervous. He was **way** more gorgeous than Tai could have ever imagined.

"Yeah, isn't he cute?" Sora asked while watching Tai's reaction.

"He's gorgeous. That's the only word for him." Tai's mouth would have fell open had it not been for Mimi who closed it for him right as they approached the gorgeous creature.

"Ryo, this is Tai." Sora introduced them both while smiling and hoping this turned out as good as she thought it would.

"Hello, Tai. It's a pleasure to meet you." Ryo's voice was amazing; not too manly, but not girly at the same time. He held his hand out for Tai and he froze for a second before coming to his senses.

"Hiya, Ryo." Tai shook his hand while cursing himself. Why was he acting so stupid?

"Come on you two, before the movies start." Mimi called and they all went to get their tickets.

"Alright, since our movies end around the same time we should just wait for each other and then go get something to eat afterwards, okay?" Sora suggested and Ryo nodded while smiling.

"Sounds good to me, Sora." Ryo looked at Tai as he spoke and then Sora and Mimi went to their theatre while Ryo and Tai went to theirs. "Hmmm...seems like no one likes this movie very much." As they walked in they both noticed that there were barely any people in the seats.

"Tai, would you mind very much if we sat in the back...? I have a small fear of having people behind me during a movie." Ryo blushed cutely as he asked and Tai almost died on the spot.

"Of course not!" Tai smiled and tried to control him. He had never seen such a guy who was nice, gorgeous, and adorable all at the same time. They both sat down in the back row which was completely available since everyone else was sitting toward the front.

"I'm going to be honest with you about something," Ryo began and Tai's heart began to beat fast. Was he going to tell him he hated him? Why did this always happened, he couldn't even get set-up with someone without it going wrong... "I was so nervous I almost chickened out on coming, but I'm glad I did. You're very cute." Ryo finished and smile as Tai blushed redder and redder until he finally had to just look away. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"No...I just feel sort of dumb. I keep screwing up, saying the wrong things, and then I can't stop blushing." Tai confessed without thinking about it. For some reason he felt more calm about opening up around Ryo, even though he was still nervous.

"Screwing up? I haven't notice, I find the way you're acting to be very cute. Plus, I think your adorable when you blush." Ryo chuckled a little as Tai began blushing all over again. They would have continued talking but the movie began so they had to keep their eyes on the big screen. Rules were made to be broken and that's just what they did. Tai couldn't help but glance at Ryo every few seconds and when he did he would catch Ryo doing the same thing. Needless to say, neither saw any of the movie, so when it was over it was a surprise to both of them.

"That movie seemed very short." Tai complained as they walked out to see Sora and Mimi waiting for them.

"I have to agree with you, I found what I was watching to be very interesting though." Ryo hinted and Tai's head almost exploded from the sudden heat that ran up to his face.

"Did you two have a good time?" Sora asked already knowing the answer by the way they both kept looking at each other. It was obvious to anyone around that they were both falling for each other.

"Yeah, it was fun." Tai said and Ryo smiled at him; his dark green eyes sparkling even though the sun was already down and the moon was barely in the sky.

"Ready to go get something to eat?" Mimi asked as they started walking toward the restaurant.

"Yeah! I'm starving!" Tai complained while rubbing his stomach and groaning for dramatic effect.

"You're always hungry..." Sora giggled.

"I can't help it, food is a man's best friend." Tai stated and then nodded his head agreeing with himself. It was pretty clear that Tai was no longer nervous around Ryo, or he was just so hungry he had forgot to be nervous. Either were good guesses.

"Well here we are." Mimi announced as Tai yelled happily and ran inside followed by Ryo.

"Do you think those two would notice if we were even there?" Mimi asked quite amused and happy that everything was working out.

"I doubt it, wanna just go home?" Sora offered and Mimi nodded; so they both looked at the two boys sitting at a table smiling without a care in the world toward each other and then they walked off to leave the boys alone so Ryo might finally cure Tai of Matt...

"I can't believe you can eat that much, it's amazing." Ryo chuckled as he watched Tai continue to stuff his face without showing any sign of letting up.

"I'm really hungry, I can't help it." He said between chews. Ryo ate his food like a normal person while continuing to smile or chuckle at Tai. After about ten minutes of constant eating Tai finally stopped and smiled happily. "Good food."

"It's amazing watching you eat, you know that? I've never seen someone eat that much and not get sick." Ryo applauded and Tai bowed while laughing. He had never been so happy.

"Hey...where are Mimi and Sora?" Tai finally realized they weren't at the table after looking around a few minutes.

"I'm not sure, I'm kind of glad they aren't here. I like having you to myself." Ryo placed his hand on top of Tai's gently waiting for approval; when Tai laced his fingers through Ryo's and blushed Ryo smiled brightly and rubbed his thumb over Tai's slowly. "I don't normally fall for someone so quickly, but I really like you, Tai. I hope I'm not coming on too strong. If I am tell me and I will back up I promise, I don't want to hurt you."

"You're not coming on too strong, and I feel the same way. I care a lot for you even though it's barely been a day." Tai confessed and moved closer to Ryo.

"I'm so glad to hear that Tai." Ryo kissed the top of his hand. They sat there for about thirty more minutes until they noticed what time it was and decided it was time to go home. "Let me walk you home."

"You don't have to..." Tai said even though he hoped Ryo would, it felt nice having someone care for him.

"Please, I insist." Ryo held out his hand to Tai and smiled. Tai laced his fingers through Ryo's as they walked toward his house. The normally long walk seemed to take seconds, Tai hated having to say goodbye to Ryo. He hoped he would get to see him again.

"This is my house, Ryo..." Tai told him sadly as they stood facing each other.

"Will I get to see you again?" Ryo asked for the first time acting a little shy.

"I would love that." Tai's heart was pounding and his stomach was in knots. Ryo handed him a piece of paper.

"Call me anytime you want to talk. I would love to hear from you." Ryo smiled and kissed Tai's palm softly. "I hope to see you soon..." He turned and walked away slowly as if he didn't want to leave Tai.

"See you soon..." Tai said to no one and then walked into his house like a teenage girl, which he hated.

"Welcome back Tai," His mother smiled as he walked in. "Matt called while you were out, he said it's important."

To be continued...

Ryku


	4. Insanity

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or anything associated with it. All I own is Takahiro and Ryo.

Tai walked to his room after getting the cordless phone; he couldn't decide if he actually wanted to call him or not. He had such a wonderful time with Ryo that he hadn't even thought about Matt. Besides, Matt had treated him horribly, why should he call the person back who caused him so much pain? If he didn't call him though, he would wonder what Matt wanted since he had said it was important... Tai sighed and dialed Matt's number while hating himself the whole time.

"Hello?"

"Hey TK, is Matt home?" Tai's voice didn't sound very excited about talking to Matt.

"Yeah...is something wrong?"

"No, I'm just wondering why Matt would call me after what happened yesterday."

"He hasn't said anything to me, sorry. Here he is." TK handed the phone to Matt while giving him a curious look.

"Hello?" Normally hearing Matt's voice made him weak at the knees, but now it was just like talking to a normal friend. Some feelings were still there though.

"Hey Matt," Tai was getting more curious about why Matt wanted to talk to him. "Mom said you wanted to talk about something important."

"Yeah...um...I wanted to apologize for what happened last weekend. I honestly wasn't expecting that to happen. Hiro and I had been in a huge argument and then we broke up so I was very upset. Your mom said you were still asleep so she started yelling for you to get up. After about ten minutes I went upstairs and heard the shower running so I decided to make myself comfortable on your bed while I waited, since your normally in the shower forever. When you came in with just a towel covering you, it was more than I could stand. I didn't really lie about what I said. Hiro and I had broke-up and since I was upset, I told you I loved you more than Hiro, it wasn't me trying to hurt you. My mind just wasn't in the right place. One thing I wish I could take back above all is what happened afterwards. I didn't mean for it to go that far, I never wanted to ever hurt you." Matt seemed to be almost as upset as Tai was, which made him believe what he was hearing. "I tried to explain it to you at school, but you wouldn't let me talk. Not that I blame you though. I know I don't have the right to ask, but is there anyway you could forgive me? I don't expect it anytime soon though."

"I'm sure I'll be able to forgive you, it'll just take a little while." Tai was surprised to hear him say those words, but Matt seemed so sincere.

"Thank you, Tai. I was hoping my stupidity mistake would cost us our friendship." Matt's voice was now happy instead of worried and scared.

"I'm glad we can be friends." Tai felt a huge relief. He could handle not being with Matt romantically, but it would be hard not being friends.

"I have to go, sorry. TK needs the phone and he's being a pain." Matt chuckled a little as TK glared at him. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, alright?"

"Alright, see ya." Tai heard a click and then hung the phone up. A few minutes after he brought the phone back to the living room and returned to his room Kari walked in smiling. "Get out." He commanded without a trace of force behind it.

"Can't. I have to know what you think of Ryo." Kari giggled as Tai sighed and shook his head.

"Does everyone know about Ryo?" Tai couldn't help but smile when he said his name.

"Everyone but Matt. TK said he wasn't going to tell him because he didn't know if he should." Kari explained and sat down on Tai's bed. "Do you ever clean?" His room was filled with everything and all of it was thrown about in a disarray.

"I like my room this way, thank you very much." Tai's voice was dripping with sarcasm and then he suddenly started smiling. "I feel wonderful when I'm around Ryo; he makes me feel special and that he actually cares."

"So you really like him? Think you'll go on another date?" Kari was happy to see her brother happy and starting to get over Matt, at least she hoped.

"I was thinking about calling him tomorrow to see if he wanted to do something." Tai's smile continued to grow as he thought about how Ryo made him feel.

"You have his number?"

"Yeah, he wrote it down on a piece of paper sometime while I wasn't looking probably."

"Were you eating?"

"Yes."

"That's why you didn't notice. A bomb could go off while you're eating and it wouldn't effect you one bit." Kari giggled a bit and then stole the piece of paper from Tai as he started looking at it.

"Hey!" He jumped up and started grabbing for the paper, but Kari was already up and reading it.

"_Hey Tai, I hope you decide to go out with me again, this time by ourselves. Hope to hear from you soon." _Kari smiled as she read the note in a teasing tone. "He seems very nice, you should call him. His number is on the back."

"Give it back!" He yelled and then grabbed the paper and put it in his pocket quickly.

"You're being so protective over a piece of paper?" She laughed as he glared at her.

"I can't help it, he's different than any other guy I've ever met." Tai smiled and closed his eyes. His face was more relaxed and happy than Kari had ever seen it, even when he was obsessively talking about Matt and how much he cared for him. Tai's face was no where near this. Many thoughts ran through her mind as Tai sat blissfully unaware.

"Tai, I don't mean to bring up a bad memory, but why have you gotten over Matt so quickly? I'm happy you did though." She was beginning to wonder if Matt was just that bad or if Ryo was that perfect.

"Matt doesn't compare to Ryo. Everything he says or does creates a wonderful feeling deep inside that Matt just could never create. It makes me wonder though; I wish I knew what happened between Matt and I, we were fine until Hiro and Matt hooked up." Tai shrugged and yawned, obviously not worried about it.

"Maybe you're both growing apart, are you still good friends?" Karis' brown eyes suddenly because filled with fear at the thought of these two not being best friends, how could the world handle the two people who have been friends for almost their whole lives suddenly ending it so quickly. "I don't know if I could handle you two not being friends, it wouldn't be the same."

"We are friends, I just don't know if it'll ever be the same though. It's hard to be the same after what has happened between us." Tai suddenly because very sad and Kari looked at him a little confused since she didn't really know what he was talking about. She decided to let it go for now though. He stared beyond Kari at the wall, it was as if he has just found out that his entire life had ended and there was nothing he was able to do to stop it. The change startled Kari, she has expected him to be a little upset when it suddenly occur to him things may not be the same, but the look on his face was more than she bare.

"Hey...I'm sure everything will work out. You two have always has arguments and fights, but everything always works out and I know this will be the same way." Kari's voice cracked a little which was normally when she was either lying or covering something up, Tai loved that part a lot. Instead of saying anything about her voice cracking he said nothing, didn't move or say a word. Didn't even acknowledge she was even there. "Tai?" She was beginning to worry about him, he had never acted like this before. "Tai? What's wrong?" Still he said nothing nor moved. "Tell me Tai, I hate when you're upset."

"Sorry." When he actually said something the sound startled Kari which made her jump a little.

"Do you want to have some time alone?" Kari normally wouldn't give up so easily about something like this, but for some reason this was affecting him more than anything she had seen before which made her re-think begin stubborn.

"Actually, yes. I need some time to think about some stuff right now." Before she could ask him any other questions he was gone. It was obvious his mind was already gone on to other things. She wasn't even able to make her usual joke of how he "couldn't possibly think, he wasn't use to that sort of thing." Kari stood up and walked out of his room after a small "goodnight," she was sure something she has said caused Tai's sudden urge to think.

XxXx XxXx

Tai woke up the next morning earlier than he ever had, his mom didn't need to wake him because he was already showered, dressed, and eating breakfast by the time she woke up.

"Tai? What are you doing up, honey?" His mother sat down beside him at the table and looked at his very nutritional breakfast which consisted of a chocolate bar and a glass of soda. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Came a short, quick, emotionless response from the chocolate eater.

"You're never up before me, and you never eat like that unless you're upset...well at least in the morning you don't eat like that." She smiled waiting for him to glare and then chuckle a little, which never happened. He just say there chewing silently on the chocolate. Another surprise about the way he was acting was that he didn't inhale that food instead of nibbling on it. "Do you feel sick?"

"No." Again he answered with the same tone and without glancing anywhere but at a spot on the table that must have been extremely entertaining to keep his attention so long.

"Taichi, tell me what's wrong! I know theres something, you never act like this!" His mother stared at him with an expression full of concern.

"Sorry." That was the last thing he said before he stood up, got his stuff, and left for school 20 minutes early.

"Kari!"

XxXx XxXx

"Hey, Tai!" Izzy waved and walked up with a shocked, confused look on his face. "Do you know what time it is? You're never here this early."

"Hello."

"Why are you here so early?" Izzy stared at him while calculating the odds of Tai being upset.

"Couldn't sleep." Tai opened his lock and got out the books he needed.

"Is there a reason you're only giving one or two word answers?" He figured Tai would tell him the truth since it was obvious, even to people that didn't know him, that something was wrong. Plus, when Tai was in a bad mood a little pushing could always get him to spill whatever was wrong.

"No." Tai turned away from Izzy after he glanced at the redhead without an emotion on his face anywhere.

"Tai?" His configuring had never came up with the possibility of his being in a bad mood still, not wanting to talk, which he always did, and not showing any emotion. Tai's emotions were usually displayed on his face for the world to see.

"Yes?" Even though Tai was answering the questions, sort of, he was obviously trying to get away from everyone because he walked into his classroom where no one would be for at least five minutes.

"I can take a hint, but don't expect this to be over." Izzy took one more worried glance at Tai and then walked out to find someone, the only one, who could always crack Tai and make him get over whatever it was that had suddenly came over him.

XxXx XxXx

"Tai looked at the clock above the blackboard, three minutes until the bell. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes; many thoughts were running through his mind all of a sudden, it had been happening since last night but not even near this bad. The classroom was teacher less, student less (aside from Tai), and so quiet you could hear the clock ticking by slowly.

_Tick Tick Tick_

Suddenly Tai began to feel tired, it seemed that his four hours of sleep was catching up. Even his normally spiked hair was droopy and sad looking.

_Tick Tick Tick_

A calming lullaby was beginning to stop his mind from swirling in a constant disarray. It was as if the clock was casting some sort of spell. He could smell a musky wonderful aroma that he couldn't quite place in his current sleepy state.

_Tick Tick Tick_

For some reason there was more ticking, but maybe it was just his imagination.

_Tick Tick _"Tai?" _Tick Tick_

He tried to wake up but his mind wouldn't allow it; he was at peace and he didn't have to think so much about his problems.

_Tick Tick Tick Tick_

"Taichi, wake up!"

Tick Tick Tick

That smooth voice, the familiarity of it almost hurt. The owner of that voice could only be...

"Matt? What are you doing?"As his chocolate eyes opened the first thing he saw was blond hair and big blue eyes.

"Heard you were having some trouble so I came to find out what's wrong." He sat down on top of the desk Tai was sitting at and smiled. "Everyone seems to be worried, so tell me why you're acting this way."

"Sorry." Everything came crashing back so suddenly that Tai had to flinch a bit.

"Sorry?" Matt stared at him with an almost horrified expression. "Since when do you sound so upset? I just spoke to you last night, what could have happened in that amount of time?" He placed a pale, slender hand on Tai's shoulder and looked into his eyes. "you know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yes." Tai smiled a little, the first since he had woke up this morning. "Sorry."

"Don't say sorry. Tell me what's wrong, I want the old Tai back."

"I don't know..." he looked down sadly at his hands that were resting on the desk. How could he possibly tell Matt what was wrong, how would he take what has been running through his mind? Even though he hated the emo stage he was currently in; his mind wasn't going to let him change for the time being.

"Come on, Tai..." The rest of his sentence was cut off by the bell ringing and students rushing into get to their seats before the teacher arrived.

"What?" Tai stared at the blond for a few seconds as he sat down in the seat in front of him.

"Nothing, I'll tell you after class." Matt turned his head and looked at Tai over his shoulder as he spoke and then turned with a quick smile.

Class seemed to take at least two hours longer than normal; he didn't understand why he was there anyway, it wasn't like he was paying attention to anything other than the constant reminder of what he thought he heard Matt say. He couldn't be sure though because of that damn bell, but he heard the beginning of "Come on, Tai, you know how..." There were too many possibilities that could finish off that sentence and he had used every one of them. The clock said there was only ten more minutes left until he could be free of wondering.

"All of that will be on the test next week, so I hope you all listened intently and paid close attention." The teacher began putting everything up that he had used to explain the test: papers, chalk,...even a CD player...

"Matt, why does the teacher have a CD player?" Tai had momentarily decided not to bombard Matt with questions, but only for now.

"Gosh, Tai, were you not paying attention? What a surprise. At least that's the same." Matt smirked as Tai glared and rolled his eyes. "There is a listening portion of the test and he went over what exactly would be on there and what it sounds like."

"So he gave us the answers?" Tai's mouth dropped open a little as the information sunk in. "I missed the only day in the entire world that a teacher would give out the answers because you couldn't finish a sentence. Karma must hate me. I don't think I've done anything bad though."

"Tai."

"I must have though. Gah! Why didn't I actually listen for a change?!" Tai laid his head on his desk and continued speaking only now it sounded like a mumble.

"Tai..."

"You can help me study!"

"Taichi Yagami! Listen to me!" Matt sighed and shook his head as Tai looked at him innocently. "I will help you study, but I'm just wondering why you were so worried about what I said."

"Because you didn't finish your sentence! You know I'm a very curious person." Tai was feeling better, which made him wonder if it was because of Matt or if it was just because he was actually feeling better.

"I should have figured." He smiled and chuckled a little. "I was going to tell you that you should already know that I want you to come and talk to when you're upset. You're my best friend, Tai. I know things have been rough between us, but I hope you still feel like you can come to me. I care for you a lot, and it hurts me when you're upset." They were both walking toward their lockers, which were right beside each other, getting ready for their next class which they didn't have together because Matt refused to take gym.

"Thank you, Matt, and yes I do still feel like I can come to you, but I don't know what's wrong." Tai opened his locker and got out his book while staring at Matt from the corner of his eye. He was starting to get a strange feeling and he didn't know exactly what it was, but it made him feel guilty and scared at the same time.

"Do you want to come over after school to talk about stuff and hang out?" Matt seemed to get really nervous as he asked him a question that normally wouldn't be so serious.

"Would Hiro be ok with that?" Tai growled the name Hiro out accidentally, which shocked him and seemed to get Matt's attention since he raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"He's not around often anymore, but he wouldn't care anyway. You're just coming over to talk, right?" Even though Tai knew Matt almost better than anyone, and could normally catch even the slightest changes in his voice and knew exactly what he was hinting at, secretly asking, or feeling; he couldn't figure out anything this time. All he knew was that Matt's voice changed at the very end. Perhaps he was feeling strange still or perhaps he was right, but something deep inside of Tai was telling him that Matt' s questions wasn't just a normal question.

"Unless you can think of something better to do." Tai's mouth tends to work faster than his mind can realize the words. He realized what he said could have been taken multiple ways and he mentally kick himself. He hoped he didn't sound like he was trying to make it sound different; Matt may think he did mean it that way and he was just covering it up.

"Sounds great." Matt smiled just as the bell rang and then he waved to Tai. "See ya at lunch."

"See ya!" Tai walked to the gym and opened the doors while mumbling to himself.

"Do you always talk to yourself?" Ken asked while smirking.

"I've got some things on my mind." Tai explained and got his gym clothes out of his locker.

"Well you better get it out because we'll kick your a-"

"Davis!" Ken yelled while glaring at the energetic brunette.

"Yes, Kennie?" Instant puppy-dog eyes.

"You know I hate when you cuss." Ken continued to scold David even though it was obvious he hated it and wanted to hug Davis until his spiky head popped off.

"I'm sorry, but I just get so excited before we play soccer, it's even worse when it's an actual game." Davis rubbed the back of his head for a few seconds and then launched himself at Ken who caught the hyper-active bundle easy, since he already knew what Davis was planning.

"How are you and Ryo?" Ken asked while hiding a smile. He immediately saw Tai's face flush and his eyes go sort of dreamy. "That well huh."

"He's amazing. I just don't know what's exactly going to happen between us though. He goes to a private school and I don't know how much we'll get to see each other. I'll worry about that after our second date though, which reminds me I'm supposed to call him for date." Tai smiled and finished getting dressed.

"I hope everything works out, Tai. You deserve to have someone to treat you special and that'll love you." Ken smiled as Davis wrapped his tan muscular arms around Ken's thin waist.

"Come on, it's time to play some soccer!" Their coach yelled into the locker room.

"Yay!" Davis ran out of the locker room while dragging Ken along behind him. Tai smiled while watching them and then a picture of Ryo floated into his mind. Tonight I'll call Ryo, right after I get home from Matts', Tai promised himself.

XxXx XxXx

Tai walked out of the shower and got dressed quickly. He couldn't wait to talk to Matt and find out what exactly happened to him. Matt always helped him when he was feeling bad, it felt wonderful knowing he still had Matt as at least a good friend.

"Hey Tai!" Matt smiled and walked up to him. "I was thinking...you want to leave school early and get lunch at my house?"

"Sure." Tai wasn't really fond of school food, but Matt's was the best.

"Alright, we can talk when we get there." They both looked around for any sign of teachers and then walked out the doors.

"Did you bring your car?" Tai hoped he did so they could get there sooner, but he also wanted to enjoy the day by walked.

"Yeah, it's over here." They walked over to a dark blue Mustang and got in. Matt started the car and they drove in silence which was a little surprising to Tai, he figured they wouldn't be able to stop talking. Even though Matt wasn't normally the talkative one; Tai couldn't think of anything to say. His mind was rattling with so many things he couldn't think of what was going to start with. It took about ten minutes to get to Matt's apartment and Tai couldn't have been happier. He was starving and wanted to get out of the car so they could at least say something.

"Any idea about what you want to eat?" Matt chuckled and shut off the engine.

"Hmmm..." They bot got out as Tai was considering all the different possibilities.

"I'll surprise you." He smiled at the chocolate boy and then walked up the stairs toward his door.

"Anything you make is wonderful." Tai stopped in front of the door and waited for Matt to open the door.

"Find something on tv while I make food." Matt walked into the kitchen after taking his shoes off. Tai switched on the tv and began running through channels. "We can begin talking after we eat, I bet you're starving."  
"You know me too well." Tai laid back on the couch and tried to get comfortable. After a few minutes of silence caused Tai to doze off, the remote fell out of his hands and hit the floor loudly.

He began dreaming a dream that was so real he could feel everything, smell everything, and taste everything. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue and the wind was blowing his hair around gently. Tai's nose twitched as he smelled a familiar scent, and suddenly he could taste something so soft and sweet that he opened his mouth wide trying to get more of the wonderful flavor. As he opened his mouth he felt a smooth wet piece go into his mouth. His hunger was increasing and he longed to have more; he was about to find a way to get more when a noise, barely audible, woke him from his blissful state. When he opened his eyes he realized, with a shock, that he wasn't really dreaming. Matt stood over him breathless, scared and blushing with a guilty look on his face. It was obvious that what he had tasted had been Matt kissing him.

To be continued...

Ryku


	5. Beautiful

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or anything associated with it. All I own is Takahiro and Ryo. Please read at the bottom I have something important I need for you guys to help me with.

Kari sat in her room staring at Tai; she had never seen him this upset. His words were getting jumbled together and he was making absolutely no sense.

"Tai-"

"Ican'tbelievehedidthattome." Tai would stand up, pace, sit-down, and then repeat. The only thing Kari knew for certain was that one again Tai was upset and it involved Matt.

"Taichi! Calm down and talk to me!" She hated to yell, but her brother was very thick headed.

"Sorry." Tai looked at everything but her, which was good; his dark brown eyes looked so angry she figured her room would explode or burst into flames. "I gave Matt another chance. He fucked me, apologized for it, said he regretted it, and then wanted me to forgive him! Which I did, like the best friend I was! I figure he had just made a huge horrible mistake, so I forgave him and then I go to his house, after skipping school to have him kiss me after I fell asleep! We were supposed to talk, he was supposed to help me!" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I trusted him, but no more! We are completely through. Hiro or whatever can have him! I bet he lied about them hardly being together anymore."

"Matt did all that?!" Kari's temper was hard to raise, but it did when someone was in trouble, and right now she was furious. "I can believe he did that! I thought you two were friends, I bet it's that stupid Hiro!"

"It doesn't matter, I'm fed-up with him. I have Ryo who makes me feel wonderful, I have friends, and I feel like I'm a better person that him because I didn't try to do what he did!"

"You don't need him, call Ryo and he'll make you feel better." Kari said looking at the clock. "Would he be home at 3:00, when does his school end?"

"He should be home." Tai walked out of her room and grabbed the cordless phone. He knew he shouldn't call Ryo when he was upset; so he waited ten minutes until he cooled off and could talk without growling. As he was about to dial Ryo's number the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Tai! I can explain, I promise." It was Matt sounded almost in tears.

"Can you really?" Tai could feel his anger rising.

"Yes." Matt said and began to explain when suddenly he heard a dial tone. Tai had hung up on him.

"I can't believe him, he has some nerve!" He needed someone to talk to, and he was tired of missing Ryo, so he called him ever though he was angry.

"Hello?"

"Ryo..." Tai knew Ryo's voice, he sounded as if he was sitting beside him.

"Hey there, beautiful. I was beginning to think that you weren't' going to call me back." Ryo's happiness made Tai forget all his problems.

"Of course I was going to call you. I had a lot of fun when we were together." Tai was hoping he was going to ask him out on another date.

"Um...Tai, could I ask you something? I'm hoping it's not going to get me turned down though." It was obvious he was very nervous, which made Tai giggle a little.

"Whatever your question is, I can almost promise you I won't turn you down." Tai's skin was prickling, he had never this. In the past few days he had felt so many new feelings his emotions were getting shot.

"That makes me feel a little better. I was wondering...would you like to go on another date wit-"

"Yes!" Tai interrupted and then blushed hotly. "I mean...continue."

"You're so cute, but like I was saying; would you like to go on another date with me?"

"I would love to go on another date again, but when?"

"Whenever you're free. I can't wait to see you again." Ryo wasn't nervous at all, Tai thought his voice was more excited than he had ever heard it.

"I'm free tonight actually." Tai's face turned into a tomato as he realized he must seem way to eager or desperate, but he wanted to see him so badly.

"I was hoping you would say that. I was worried I wouldn't be able to see you for at least another day. I don't know if I could actually handle that though." Ryo seemed to be getting happier by the minute.

"You're so sweet." Tai had meant to only think that, but instead his mouth, once again, moved faster than his brain.

"I'm glad you think so, beautiful." Ryo chuckled a little as he heard Tai make a strange sound which he figured meant he was blushing. "So when shall I come by and pick you up?"

"You still remember where I live?" Tai was almost amazed considering it was late and a few days ago when Ryo had walked him home.

"I could never forget such an important place. If all goes right I'll be coming by a lot to take you on dates."

"Oh...um..." Tai was at a loss for words.

"Speechless? Sora told me that you always had something to say." Ryo chuckled while Tai growled and complained about Sora having a bigger mouth than him. "When shall I pick you up, I want to see you so badly."

"How about around 8?" Tai's entire body felt like it was trembling he had never been so excited, so nervous, and so happy all at once.  
"Sounds perfect. I'll be there at eight, but I need to go for right now, I have to fix some food for my little sister and do some homework. See you soon beautiful."

"See ya." Tai hung up the phone with a huge grin on his face, all thoughts of Matt were completely erased for the time being.

"So what are you going to wear?" Kari asked while peeking her head around Tai's door.

"Why do you spy so much?!" Tai glared and threw a pillow toward the door missing by at least a mile.

"How do you score any goals in soccer with that aim?" Kari giggled as Tai glared even harder.

"Whatever!" Tai turned away from Kari and looked his closet with all thoughts of trying to impress Ryo.

"Seriously, what are you going to wear?" Kari finally left her hiding spot and stood close to Tai, but not close enough that he could grab or smack her.

"I don't know...I want to look REALLY good though! I want him to think I'm hot, no sexy...no...I don't know!" Tai clutched his hair and began pulling it endangering his hair.

"Here, I'm help you before you become bald." Kari began looking through Tai's surprisingly large collection of clothing, while either nodding or shaking her head at certain articles of clothing. "Hmmm..."

"What?" Tai was becoming very impatient while she was digging around without saying a word for about four or five minutes.

"Well? Have you found anything yet?" Tai tried looking over Kari's shoulder to see what she was looking at but almost got hit by a pair of flying shirts in the process so he figured he would stay back a little and complain. "Karrrrrriiii! Hurry up!"

"Why are you in such a hurry? The date isn't until eight o'clock, what time is it right now?" Kari continued looking without even pausing to talk.

"It's about 4:00, I'm going to go get some food, tell me when you find something." Tai walked out of the room and Kari mumbled a quick "uh-huh."

XxXx XxXx

"I found it! The perfect outfit!" Kari ran out of Tai's room carrying some clothing in her arms and looking like a mad-woman.

"Huh?" Tai asked groggily from the couch where he had been napping peacefully.

"I found the perfect outfit!" Kari threw the outfit at him and smiled

"What time is it?" Tai asked while looking at the clothing curiously.

"Um...7:30...wow that took a long time." Kari looked at Tai a little shocked. "I didn't think I was in there that long."

"Ooh...just 7:30?" Tai started to close his eyes when it suddenly struck him. "Ryo's going to be here in 30 minutes!" He jumped up and ran to his room as fast as he could. "These clothes better be amazing!" He quickly changed and walked out to look in the mirror. His broad chest was covered with a tight black shirt that revealed his muscles easily and his bottom-half was covered with khaki shorts that fell a little below his knees. "How is this the perfect outfit?"

"I like it, I'm sure that Ryo will love it. The shirt is tight and the shorts show off your soccer legs." Kari smiled and looked at Tai stubbornly. "You're going to wear them, it took me forever to pick them out!"

"If you're sure that he'll love it then I guess it's ok." Tai took once last look at himself in the mirror and then turned to look at Kari. "Should I call him or what?"

"Wait for him to call you, it may look to desperate if you call. I'm sure he'll call you soon anyway." Kari had barely finished speaking when the phone rang.

"I'LL GET IT!" Tai yelled and started running toward the phone, but before he could reach it he slammed into the table the phone sat on and knocked the entire table over. "Owwwwww!"

"...boys..." Kari sighed while walking over to the phone, _calmly_, and then picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hello, is Tai there? This is Ryo."

"Oh, hello Ryo. This is Tai's sister, Kari. Tai will be here in a few minutes, but while we wait why don't you tell me where you're taking my big brother." Kari smirked at Tai while she spoke until he stood up glaring at her evilly.

"I'm planning on taking him to a movie and then a nice restaurant, does that sound good?" Ryo asked sounding suddenly worried about his choice in the date.

"That sounds really romantic, but..." Kari ran quickly to another room to finish her conversation. Tai sat down on the couch fuming while he waiting for Kari to get finished talking to _**HIS**_ boyfriend instead of letting him get to.

"Ryo will be here in about ten minutes, you better finish getting ready." Kari said causally and then sat the phone down on the table.

"Kari! Why didn't you let me talk to him!? He's MY boyfriend. Grrrrr..." Tai continued to glare at her furiously.

"Be-cause, it's a surprise for your date."

"A sur-" Suddenly the door-bell rang. "I thought you said he wouldn't be here for ten minutes!" Tai jumped up and ran to the mirror making sure he looked as perfect as possible.

"Oh...did I?" She said sweetly and then disappeared into her room giggling.   
"Stupid sister..." He took a deep breath and then opened the door to reveal Ryo standing there wearing blue jeans and a dark blue t-shirt that clung to parts of his upper body perfectly. Tai had to just take a few seconds out in order to find his voice, he had known Ryo was hot, but right now he looked amazing. "He-hello Ryo."

"Hello, beautiful." Ryo smiled, grabbed Tai's hand gently, and kissed it. "I've missed you greatly." Tai's face went completely red and he giggled a little.  
"Smile!" Kari yelled and quickly took a picture of the two then ran off before either could figure out what had happened.

"I'm going to hurt her one of these days." Tai smiled as Ryo shook his head and pulled him out of the house.

"No hurting your sister, she's very useful, besides, if you hurt her you'll get in trouble and then I would have to sneak over to see you. I don't like sneaking, I want to be able to see you anytime I want." Ryo put his arm around Tai's waist and then nuzzled his cheek slowly while Tai lit-up his face again. "You don't mind me acting the way I am do you? I'm not taking it too quickly am I? I don't want for you to feel like I'm rushing this relationship or that I'm just in it for sex or anything, because I really do care for you Tai."

"I love the way you treat me, Ryo, and no I don't feel like you're just in it for sex. It's fine, so don't worry." Tai smiled and wrapped his arm around Ryo. "I really care for you too."

"Glad to hear that." He kissed Tai's cheek quickly.  
"I have a question."

"Yes, beautiful?"

"You never call me Tai, but you did when you were about rushing and everything. Why?"

"Because I wanted for you to realize that I was being completely serious."

"Ooh...makes sense." Tai giggled quietly to himself as they walked toward the first part of their date. "Where are we going?"

"To get something to eat, I figured that sense we went to a really nice restaurant last time we would go to a different type of restaurant this time, that way you don't get too spoiled...and the fact that Kari told me that you would probably feel more comfortable in this type of restaurant, too." Ryo chuckled as Tai started growling and damning his sister. "I think you'll really like where we're going, at least I hope you do."

"Anywhere I go with you will be good, I just don't like that Kari thinks she knows so much about me." Tai looked around trying to figure out exactly where they were going to eat, but that could have been anywhere since every restaurant was around each other, he figured that since she said he would be comfortable it would be some sort of fast-food place.

"Here we go." Ryo announced and looked at Tai to see his reaction.

"I knew it would be a fast-food place." Tai smiled and followed Ryo in.  
"Is this okay, we can go somewhere else if you wish." Ryo looked worried as he asked. "I want for you to have fun."

"This is perfect, don't worry so much." Tai smiled and kissed Ryo on the lips softly. "You don't have to take me to a really expensive restaurant for me to have fun, besides, I already know what to order."

"Well...as long as you're happy, beautiful." Ryo took Tai's hand into his own as they walked up to the menu and ordered their food.

"It'll be a few minutes." The lady behind the desk said while smiling. "We'll bring your food to you once it's done."

"Thank you." They both said and then walked over to find a table to themselves in the corner of the restaurant. Even though people gawked at them like they were creatures from another world due to the fact that they were smiling and giggling like mad toward each other, but none of this was notice by either of them. They were both to wrapped up in their own little world with each other.

"Um...Ryo could I ask you a question that may seem a little girly sounding?" Tai blushed a little with his shy eyes barely looking at him.

"Of course beautiful." Ryo smiled and reached across the table and took Tai's hand into his own with a soft smile.

"Well...why exactly do you like me? I know that there has to be a LOT of good-looking guys and girls, at your school so why are you dating me?"

"Tai, you are amazing. You're funny, out-going, energetic, sweet, adorable, beautiful, and one of the most down-to-earth people I know. You mean everything to me, there is nothing that I don't care about." Ryo's eyes never left Tai's as he spoke, his words seem to affect Tai than he wanted to let on because he started to tear up a little until he heard a horribly familiar voice.  
"Tai! What are you doing here?

Who do you think Tai should end up with, Matt or Ryo? I want to know what you guys think so I can consider that while I write. If you have any other ideas please tell me!  
Ryku


End file.
